1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device used to assist in the installation of a jamb, wherein the jamb may comprise, for example, a doorjamb, a window jamb, a fireplace jamb, and the like. More specifically, the invention relates to a device that decreases the overall length of time needed to properly install a jamb. The device has features which allow the installer to level the horizontal surfaces of the jamb and plumb the vertical surfaces of the jamb simultaneously.
2. Background of the Invention
In the field of carpentry, the task of installing a doorjamb in a door opening in a wall is a challenging one. The task requires precision because the proper and effective use of the door depends upon a proper installation. Current processes for installing a doorjamb, however, are imprecise. In general, current methods involve holding the doorjamb in place and, while securing one side of the doorjamb, measuring the level of the horizontal member of the doorjamb while trying to hold the vertical members still and square. Installation is made more difficult because the doorjamb is not secure. Rather, the doorjamb wobbles and its angles are movable and inexact. The process of installing the doorjamb in the wall may take over an hour of work by one or two skilled carpenters trying to obtain level and plumb sides prior to securing the doorjamb in the wall and prior to shimming the space between the doorjamb and the wall. If one of the four angles of the jamb is not square, the others are also not square and the vertical or horizontal members are not level or plumb. Such inaccuracy in installation invariably results in a door that does not hang squarely in the doorjamb, and that, therefore, will not open and close properly.
Others have attempted to solve the problems inherent with doorjamb installation. However, to date there is no device comprising all of the features found in the present invention. The prior art discloses devices that assist in aligning the doorjamb and which assist in spreading the horizontal members of the doorjamb during installation. There are devices which provide a hands free square and a level of one dimension which can be used to square and level one corner of the doorjamb at a time. Additionally, the prior art includes various adjustment apparatus which are four sided and which fit within the doorjamb and which are used to stabilize the four surfaces of the doorjamb but which do not secure and fix both the horizontal planes and the top vertical planes simultaneously. The pertinent disclosed art is analyzed further below.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,615,500 to Hale teaches a device that attaches to a doorjamb and that allows the installer to read both level and plumb simultaneously. Hale's device has swing out tabs that are pivotally attached to the device and that are connected by screws to the wall and are used to hold the doorjamb temporarily in place. Hale's device is attached to the doorjamb with a screw or a nail installed through a front facing edge of the doorjamb, which is only ⅝ inch wide, making it highly likely to split. And although Hale's device is capable of reading both level and plumb simultaneously, it only reads level and plumb on one side of the doorjamb at a time. Thus the device must be moved from one side of the doorjamb to the other in order to obtain square, level and plumb entirely.
As stated, Hale has “swivel out tabs” which temporarily attach the doorjamb to the outer wall. The tabs have one screw hole for attachment to the wall so that once the device is attached, it can not be moved or adjusted. The present invention has tabs which contain a long slot in them making them able to slide back and forth after being attached to the wall. This allows for continuous adjustment after the device is secured within the wall opening.
U.S. Application Serial No. 2002/0170189 to Cheatham (now abandoned) teaches a device that provides the ability to spread open and adjust a doorjamb to different widths. Cheatham's device provides the ability to read both level and plumb simultaneously. However, Cheatham's device must be held by hand up against the doorjamb not allowing the installer to use his hands to move the doorjamb around to adjust it. If a user was to remove his hands from the device, the device would fall out of the doorjamb and would be of no use. Additionally, although Cheatham is capable of allowing the installer to read both level and plumb simultaneously, the level bubbles are too close together and not far enough down plane to get an accurate reading. Accordingly, this requires more time to get further readings by actually moving the device by hand along the length of the doorjamb.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,058,330 to Little teaches a device capable of maintaining two 90 degree angles and is capable of reading both level and plumb simultaneously. Although Little teaches a device which is capable of maintaining two ninety degree corners, it is not capable of mounting to the doorjamb and keeping both corners in a locked secure position simultaneously. It is capable of measuring both level and plumb simultaneously, but it cannot do so without the installer physically holding the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,125 to Byrn provides the ability to maintain a one ninety degree corner and to attach to the doorjamb and allow the installer to read both level and plumb simultaneously. Byrn is not capable of locking the lower ends of the doorjamb into a fixed angle position. Byrn is able to attach to the doorjamb, however, it requires attachment both at the side of the jamb and on the top of the jamb leaving twice as many holes in the jamb to be repaired later. Byrn is able to read both level and plumb simultaneously although the readings become less accurate the further down the plane you get away from the corners because the bubbles do not extend out far enough away from the corners.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,233 to Cloutier et al. teaches a device which is only fixed on one side to the hinges of the door frame. The tabs are removable to slide and secure into the frame or into the wall. The non-hinge side of the door is free floating and the carpenter must install and manually level that side into the frame.
Accordingly, what is still needed is a device that can simplify the process for installing doorjambs such that a door can be properly fitted within the doorjamb. Such a device will preferably allow a user to simultaneously level and plumb the doorjamb during installation, thereby decreasing the amount of time needed to properly install the doorjamb.